Creating a basic index file

From Joomla! Documentation

The index.php file becomes the core of every page that Joomla! delivers. Essentially, you make a page (like any html page) but place php code where the content of your site should go. Here is the bare bones ready for you to cut and paste.

The first line stops naughty people looking at your coding and getting up to bad things. The second tells the browser (and webbots) what sort of page it is. The third line says what language the site is in.

The first line gets Joomla to put the correct header information in. This includes the page title, meta information as well as system style sheets and JavaScript. The second creates a link to your style sheet. You will need to change this to the directory name that you chose.

Amazingly, this will suffice! Yes, its a very basic layout, but it will do the job. Everything else will be done by Joomla!. Note: you will need to ensure your menu is set to go into the "top" module position.